Discussions By Condition: Bone conditions

Large Bony Lump on rib

My 15 yr old daughter noticed a golfball sized hard lump in the area of her second rib just to the right of her sternum (breast bone) It is hard and tender to touch and radiates a burning feeling now spreading to the shoulder. Plain chest xray did not show a fracture, a second set of xrays showed the area but the two docs we have seen have no idea what it is. She did not injure herself in anyway and in fact has been home the previous 8 weeks with fatigue and some kind of post viral weakness. She has a nuclear bone scan set for this week and we are waiting for a referral to an orthopedic specialist because he can get us in for a CT (which I think we need) quicker than the standard 6 month wait.

Her blood work has not shown any inflammatory changes or anemia. ANyone have any ideas what this could be? She is scared to death. I'm a nurse but this is not my field! I'm tempted to take her out of the country (Canada) to get a quicker CT just so we know...

15 Replies:

Hello! I hope the bone scan went well. My 6 yr. old daughter recently was diagnosed with McCune-Albright Syndrome with the bone disease, Polyostotic Fibrous Dysplasia. The bony lump you described sounds a lot like something I read about in regard to my daughters bone disease. It's called an Aneurysmal Bone Cyst (ABC). You might research it and compare it with the bone scan results. Also, if the bone around the "cyst" has a ground glass appearance that could be a clear sign of Fibrous dysplasia. Does she have any birthmarks (cafe' au lait)? If it's a bone disease search for reputable Orthopaedic Surgeons...National Institutes of Health (NIH) might be able to help. If you need referrals get her regular pediatrician on board immediately and FIGHT for everything she needs! Our pediatrician is now nothing more than a referral machine, but his entire office is on board and gets things done in minutes instead of months! Best of luck... from one scared and terrified mom to another! God bless-

I had this in May and was taken into the hospital to have it drained (it didn't feel like fluid but rock hard and really painful to touch and even walk) They told me it was an abscess that had attached itself to my chest wall. If you do have this please go to the doctor and don't let them fob you off with 'it's an infected insect bite' which is what happened with me so I went on for a week without having anything done, which obviously made it worse and I had to have 4 weeks off of work to recover. Hope it isn't serious and you're all ok. x

Hi, I am a 17 year old girl and i have found a large bony lump part on my rib, and part on my sternum. I have already been to the doctors twice where they placed me on large amounts of steroids and gave me two injections of steroids. I was told it was the cartilage between my ribs becoming inflamed from cheerleading. I waited for two weeks after I was off the steroids and i have began to become increasingly fatigued, not hungry, and i am being plagued with dibilatating migraines, and insomnia. I am supposed to go to the doctor this up coming Friday if they have any open appointments. They have taken my blood and are testing it for i don't know what, but they took a large amount and they took also a large amount of urine to be tested. I am worried because this lump is suppose to be gone by now and it has actually gotten a little bit larger with time. The lump has also become tender when pressed upon. I don't know if my doctors are diagnosing my lump right because nothing is happening. I don't know if I should personally request chest x-rays or an ultra sound. I am worried about it because it is not going away and seems to be getting bigger. I was hoping somebody could offer up some advise. I am very nervous about this and it would be great to hear from someone else.Thank you.

Hi, I am a 17 year old girl and i have found a large bony lump part on my rib, and part on my sternum. I have already been to the doctors twice where they placed me on large amounts of steroids and gave me two injections of steroids. I was told it was the cartilage between my ribs becoming inflamed from cheerleading. I waited for two weeks after I was off the steroids and i have began to become increasingly fatigued, not hungry, and i am being plagued with dibilatating migraines, and insomnia. I am supposed to go to the doctor this up coming Friday if they have any open appointments. They have taken my blood and are testing it for i don't know what, but they took a large amount and they took also a large amount of urine to be tested. I am worried because this lump is suppose to be gone by now and it has actually gotten a little bit larger with time. The lump has also become tender when pressed upon. I don't know if my doctors are diagnosing my lump right because nothing is happening. I don't know if I should personally request chest x-rays or an ultra sound. I am worried about it because it is not going away and seems to be getting bigger. I was hoping somebody could offer up some advise. I am very nervous about this and it would be great to hear from someone else.Thank you.my bf found a hard lump on ribcage thats goten bigger over a couple months i told him go get checked, only thing hes done different is lifting things,mabee its inflamed muscles,not sure,but he needs to get a xray or scan i think.hes gona make appointment.

Can any of you tell me what it ended up being?! Two/three months ago I found a knot on the left side of my sternum. I blew it off because it didn't hurt or anything, but it started causing pain about six weeks later. I went to my usual PA and she sent me for an ultrasound that came back normal. Then she referred me to a breast surgeon who sent me for another ultrasound. She also wanted a mammogram but the would do it on anyone younger than 30 (I'm only 20). The radiologist said my lump is a rib. Now, I'm being sent for a CT scan... I'm pretty worried. I have no idea what might be wrong? Could it just be a broken/fractured, protruding rib??? I'm hoping.

Can any of you tell me what it ended up being?! Two/three months ago I found a knot on the left side of my sternum. I blew it off because it didn't hurt or anything, but it started causing pain about six weeks later. I went to my usual PA and she sent me for an ultrasound that came back normal. Then she referred me to a breast surgeon who sent me for another ultrasound. She also wanted a mammogram but the would do it on anyone younger than 30 (I'm only 20). The radiologist said my lump is a rib. Now, I'm being sent for a CT scan... I'm pretty worried. I have no idea what might be wrong? Could it just be a broken/fractured, protruding rib??? I'm hoping.I have the same thing. I was told inflammation. Take Advil till it goes away. It hasn't.

i noticed a hard lump on my rib cage just under my left breast, it doesnt hurt or bother me in anyway but i still got it checked out, i have had a really bad cough for months now, the doctors diagnosed it as crepitus, nothing to worry about, seems my cough caused my ribcage to expand and its a bit of cartilage that poppped through my ribcage, i did have a chest x ray a couple of days ago as im now in month 8 of the cough, just waiting for results on that

I have something similar - hard lump on right rib. My doctor said it was a cracked rib which had healed and there was no need to x-ray, but I asked to do it anyway. The x-ray revealed my ribs are fine and so it's something else. Now I'm being sent for an ultrasound. So I think it's good to insist on having it checked out. My doctor now thinks it's a benign cartilage tumor, a chondroma: http://www.knowcancer.com/oncology/chondroma/ It seems these are good to keep an eye on incase they weaken your ribs or become malignant, but it's extremely unlikely. I hope it's that and nothing more serious. I think if anyone tries to send me away I'll still try and push for a CT scan or biopsy.

I have a large lump / growth on a rib on my left side. Seems to be getting bigger. Had 3 X rays on the lump does not show up on any of the X rays. It is sore if you push on it. From what I can feel it seems to be getting bigger and getting closer to the below rib. I have never broken a rib and never had a injury on that area of my body.Not sure which way to go with it. I have a hard worker and get up at 2:15 AM 5 days a week. I am not the type of person that just sits around and does nothing. Just looking to find a pathway of taking care of this lump. Not sure what to do next. It's hard and getting sore if I push on it. It's about 35 mm wide. If I push down on it. I can feel my rib move when I do push on it.Your input is VY WELCOME. !!!

Can any of you tell me what it ended up being?! Two/three months ago I found a knot on the left side of my sternum. I blew it off because it didn't hurt or anything, but it started causing pain about six weeks later. I went to my usual PA and she sent me for an ultrasound that came back normal. Then she referred me to a breast surgeon who sent me for another ultrasound. She also wanted a mammogram but the would do it on anyone younger than 30 (I'm only 20). The radiologist said my lump is a rib. Now, I'm being sent for a CT scan... I'm pretty worried. I have no idea what might be wrong? Could it just be a broken/fractured, protruding rib??? I'm hoping.Hey did you ever figure it out? I was working at a Child Development Center, I dont remember of any injuries what so ever. About 7 months ago, I noticed a lump like.. on my first rib on the left side. its painful. Sometimes its not too bad. It hurts the left side of my chest, radiates to my left arm and my left shoulder blade hurts. Im 20 years old. I had two ultrasounds done on it and nothing shows up. But I guess the measurements are a bit off. I had xrays that showed nothing as well. This is driving me crazy. I dont know what it could possibly be. :( Sometimes, It feels more inflamed and when I move, It hurts to breathe in. It last for about 30 minutes most. Ahhh. I am going to go see a breast cancer/general surgery clinic this Monday (april1) . I also had an MRI done but i think it was for my rotstor cuff and cervix.

I have a large lump / growth on a rib on my left side. Seems to be getting bigger. Had 3 X rays on the lump does not show up on any of the X rays. It is sore if you push on it. From what I can feel it seems to be getting bigger and getting closer to the below rib. I have never broken a rib and never had a injury on that area of my body.Not sure which way to go with it. I have a hard worker and get up at 2:15 AM 5 days a week. I am not the type of person that just sits around and does nothing. Just looking to find a pathway of taking care of this lump. Not sure what to do next. It's hard and getting sore if I push on it. It's about 35 mm wide. If I push down on it. I can feel my rib move when I do push on it.Your input is VY WELCOME. !!!Hey could you please email me so we can talk about this? I have the same thing and itd help to speak to someone as well!H.rikaa@yahoo.com Thanks!